Open the puzzle: Come down and celebrate the launch of The Puzzle Box with authors the Apocalyptic Four, Eileen Bell, Randy McCharles, Ryan McFadden and Billie Milholland. It is a box that you can hold in the palm of your hand — but the contents will change your life forever. There is no simple way to open it: no hinges, locks or clasps. To some, its six surfaces gleam like polished gold. To others, it appears dull and tarnished like a forgotten antique. For every person, solving the box will be different, with life-altering consequences. Albert Mallory, a down-on-his-luck archeologist, begins to discover the true secrets of the Puzzle Box as revealed through four tales belonging to the previous owners. As each story is told, the mystery of his own life is slowly unravelled until he is left with the biggest question of all: what’s inside? When: Thursday, Aug. 29, 7 to 9 p.m. Where: Audreys Books, 10702 Jasper Ave. Admission: Free. Info: openthepuzzlebox.comSupplied

Super Spy Narratives: Super Spy Narratives: Paintings of Drawings of Prints are based on woodblock prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige and created by Jesse Thomas during his first year of teaching painting in the department of art and design at the University of Alberta. Each piece is assembled with scenes and characters from the artist’s mind and memory, and is composed to lay themes of cinematic narrative of science fiction and espionage. Each piece investigates the interior geometry of pictorial space, shaped by the artist’s experience of architecture. Using this structure he builds paintings with pigments of animal, vegetable and mineral origin suspended in linseed oil and refined pine sap. This process allows the artist opportunities to create a colorspace energy looking for temperature and depth, generating a site of balance and resolution. When: Until Saturday, Sept. 21. Gallery hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, noon to 6 p.m. Thursday, noon to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Gallery is closed on Monday. Where: SNAP Gallery, 10123 121st St. Admission: Free. Info: snapartists.comSupplied

Sonic Boom: Feeling a little low about the end of summer, or the return of school? You’ve got one last music festival to tide you over before hitting the books. Blink 182 (above), City and Colour, Weezer, Dan Mangan, Awonation, Weakerthans and The Sheepdogs are among the acts scheduled for this year’s Sonic Boom at Northlands. When: Saturday, Aug. 31 to Sunday, Sept. 1, gates open at 11:30 a.m. both days. Where: Northlands. Admission: $129.50 plus service charges, available at Ticketmaster, 780-451-8000. Info: sonicboomfestival.comSupplied
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Cayley Thomas: Originally classically trained in voice and theatre, Edmonton’s Cayley Thomas has moved on to writing original music with the release of her debut EP, Ash Mountain, crooning with vulnerability and bravado on five songs that traverse indie-rock and folk in equal measures. Joining her will be multi-instrumentalist and emcee Mitchmatic. When: Saturday, Aug. 31 at 9:30 p.m. Where: The Artery, 9535 Jasper Ave. Admission: $10, available at the door and from Yeglive. Info: yeglive.caSupplied

Dark Sky: The Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve is a 300 kilometre square region east of the City of Edmonton, dedicated to maintaining the dark sky. The seventh anniversary of the establishment of the preserve is being celebrated with a number of family-friendly events in the Elk Island area. There’ll be an inflatable space maze, face painting and cotton candy, solar system races and treasure hunt, music by the Lindsey Walker Band, telescope viewing, and a First Nations astronomy presentation from Wilfred Buck. When: Sunday, Sept. 1, 2 to 11 p.m. Where: Astotin Lake, Elk Island National Park. Admission: Free with admission to Elk Island Park. $7.80, adult; $6.80, senior; $3.90, youth. Info: edmontonrasc.comSupplied

Slates: Now’s your chance to have all your questions (whether they be about poker or mike placement) about famously irascible engineer/guitarist Steve Albini answered by a band that has actually recorded with him. Edmonton’s Slates are still basking in the glow of their mid-summer session in Chicago with Albini, tracking songs for their upcoming release; if you’re lucky, and they like you, maybe they’ll unveil a few of them. They’ll be at Wunderbar with What’s Wrong Tohei? and Gary Debussy. When: Friday, Aug. 30 at 9 p.m. Where: Wunderbar, 8120 101st St. Admission: $10. Info: wunderbar-edmonton.comSupplied

Newgrass: Pedal steel guitarist and Dobro player Smokey Fennell, above, switches to banjo for his latest project, Same Old Newgrass Band, applying country licks to rock favourites like Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees, Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash, and Sympathy For the Devil by the Rolling Stones. The band will be previewing the album at the Artery with Krysta Scoggins (who also sang on the album) opening. When: Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Where: The Artery, 9535 Jasper Ave. Admission: $10, available at the door or from Yeglive. Info: yeglive.caSupplied

Behind Sapphire: From busking the streets of Vancouver to singing for Ellen DeGeneres (who says they’re fantastic) to being selected in 2010 and 2011 as one of the Top 20 artists in British Columbia in the Peak Performance Project, Behind Sapphire has come an incredibly long way in only a handful of years. For Grant Cassell and Matthew Mazankowski, what first began as an outlet for their creativity and deep love of music has grown into a world renowned group known for their experimental pop music, energetic live performances, humorous YouTube videos and charitable Yellow Rubber Boots Campaign. Playing with The Frolics, Nature Of, The Campus Thieves, and Hungry Hollow. When: Saturday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. Where: The Studio, 10940 166A St. Admission: $10 to $15, available from Yeglive. Info: yeglive.caSupplied

FC Edmonton: Even if the New York Cosmos are in second place and FC Edmonton is in sixth, it’s a tighter race than it looks with just two points separating the clubs in the tight race for a playoff spot in the North American Soccer League. Get out and cheer the home team on, and soak up some of those rapidly diminishing summer rays while you’re at it. When: Sunday, Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. Where: Clarke Stadium, 11000 Stadium Rd. Admission: $15 to $28, available at the website. Info: fcedmonton.comSupplied

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